Abstract
BackgroundLong non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have crucial roles in various biological regulatory processes. However, the study of lncRNAs is limited in woody plants. Catalpa bungei is a valuable ornamental tree with a long cultivation history in China, and a deeper understanding of the floral transition mechanism in C. bungei would be interesting from both economic and scientific perspectives.ResultsIn this study, we categorized C. bungei buds from early flowering (EF) and normal flowering (NF) varieties into three consecutive developmental stages. These buds were used to systematically study lncRNAs during floral transition using high-throughput sequencing to identify molecular regulatory networks. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to study RNA expression changes in different stages. In total, 12,532 lncRNAs and 26,936 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) were detected. Moreover, 680 differentially expressed genes and 817 differentially expressed lncRNAs were detected during the initiation of floral transition. The results highlight the mRNAs and lncRNAs that may be involved in floral transition, as well as the many lncRNAs serving as microRNA precursors. We predicted the functions of lncRNAs by analysing the relationships between lncRNAs and mRNAs. Seven lncRNA-mRNA interaction pairs may participate in floral transition.ConclusionsThis study is the first to identify lncRNAs and their potential functions in floral transition, providing a starting point for detailed determination of the functions of lncRNAs in C. bungei.
Highlights
IntroductionLong non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have crucial roles in various biological regulatory processes
Long non-coding RNAs have crucial roles in various biological regulatory processes
The early flowering (EF)-Vegetative bud (Vb) were generally larger than the normal flowering (NF)-Vbs (Fig. 1a, b), no differences were observed in the sections (Fig. 1c, d)
Summary
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have crucial roles in various biological regulatory processes. The study of lncRNAs is limited in woody plants. High-throughput genomic technologies have advanced our understanding of lncRNAs in the last decade. Most studies on lncRNAs have concentrated on animals, and few studies have been performed in plants [2, 5]. LncRNAs have been studied in only some plant species, mostly vegetables or herbs, and several woody plants [6,7,8]. LncRNAs are considered important in fertility [7], fruit ripening [9], DNA methylation [10, 11], flowering time [12, 13], and photomorphogenesis [14].
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